Business Conflict Blog

The first of three short films on community/corporate relationships, on the Ambuklao/Binga dams in Luzon,  is about to be premiered at the United Nations, in Geneva, on June 16.  We are also just about finished the second one, concerning the Tintaya mine in Peru.  An interesting coincidence has arisen in editing the interviews:  In both films, someone talks about shoes.

In the Philippines, a community member who was displaced and whose rice land was submerged says, “If you were me, if you were in my shoes, I think right now you would also be crying.”  And in the Peru film, a corporate manager narrates the leap he made from making sure the company paid taxes and employed people properly to perceiving that the communities’ very livelihood had been unalterably ruined when the mine was built two decades before, by saying “You have to put yourself in their shoes.”

Being reminded of this ancient principle of communication and negotiation prompts a fresh and critical look at some of the practices that parties and mediators engage in. Read more »

Tags: ADR, Culture

Jane Gunn’s new book is the first ADR volume I have read whose introduction begins “This is not a sex manual!”

Well, neither is it a self-help book, nor a reminder of the virtues of candid conversation, nor a refresher on the teachings of the Buddha or Jesus.  Yet all that and more can be found in How to Beat Bedlam in the Boardroom and Boredom in the Bedroom (HotHive Books 2010).

This is not a book intended for mediators seeking to improve their skills, or for business clients seeking to manage their litigation portfolios.  It is for human beings who wish to improve the way they live with other human beings.  And it accomplishes its goal by contrasting business and personal conflicts and showing (guess what?) that they push the same buttons, walk into the same frailties, compromise our effectiveness and happiness in the same ways, and can be managed better with the same tools. Read more »

Tags: ADR, Culture, Teaching

Attention must be paid to an important new publication from the Insurance Institute of London, Alternative Dispute Resolution in Practice.  Written by a team of contributors (of which I am one) under the Chairmanship of Paul Moss of Montpelier Re, and assembled through the tireless efforts of General Editor Alex Oddy of the firm Herbert Smith, this volume is just what the industry has been craving: A practical, hands-on resource book for claims adjusters, lawyers and other insurance and reinsurance professionals charged with managing disputed claims. Read more »

Tags: ADR, conflict management, Training

Over the past years, many of us have been impressed by the limitations of both institutional dispute resolution systems (i.e., courts) and their alternatives (i.e., arbitration and mediation).  At the same time, I’ve been increasingly drawn to examples found in certain societies whose shared spiritual beliefs have produced systems of dispute resolution that are consciously in tune with those beliefs.

I include in these systems the Hawai’ian practice of ho’oponopono, including pule (prayer) and mihi forgiveness); Philippine practices to end clan disputes engaging spiritual authority; traditional Chinese limitations on the prosecution of individual claims in keeping with Confucian concepts of fa and li; traditional Muslim teachings of Sulha to resolve conflicts among members of the community; civil resolution practices in certain Hindu societies; and direct mediation by elders in settings like the one described by a native of Burkina Faso.

So, this year, I am studying what I call, for want of a better term, conflict resolution processes that are “spiritually-infused.”  I intend to write a book collecting and analyzing them.  A panel on the topic will be held at the ABA Dispute Resolution Conference in Denver in April. 

I also intend to share some essays as the project goes on, both to contribute to those who share my interest and to garner critical response to make the study as rigorous and reliable as it can be.  Below please find the first such essay — an introduction, setting forth the scope and purpose of the effort. Read more »

Tags: ADR, Culture